Beverly's Quilt Flimsy

I've had so many squirrels come my way in the past few months, you probably don't remember this squirrel that came to visit last year. You can read about it here and here, but long story short, I saw a vintage quilt on Instagram I wanted to recreate.

This is the vintage Instagram quilt

I spent some time carefully putting nine-patch squares together before I realized I wanted a more scrappy look. I ditched the "careful" in exchange for "fun" and away I went.

The nine-patch blocks are framed by strips and cornerstones. I'm happy to say that thanks to enthused encouragement from Diann and Janine, I decided on this yummy pink vintage-y looking fabric for the cornerstones. My husband suggested a dark red/burgundy for the binding and even offered to take me to buy what I needed, since I don't have the perfect color in my stash. Can't ask for a better offer than that!

I had intended to keep this quilt for myself, even sentimentally naming it Cottonwood after my favorite childhood tree. But after seeing this post by Louise at Quilt Odyssey, I decided to gift it to the older sister of my childhood best friend. Beverly is wheelchair bound but active in her assisted living apartment, and I think she might like a lap quilt. I'm reserving the name "Cottonwood" for a future quilt and renaming this one simply "Beverly's quilt". I hope to finish it this week!

I am sharing this post with Cynthia's Oh Scrap! Go and check out all the scrappy goodies!

Orange Zest Blocks

Having squeezed most of the "juice" from my orange scraps for this month's RSC2020, I'm starting to use the zest - lol! In fact I thought I was done making blocks but I spotted some neat blocks made by Cynthia Brunz at Quilting Is More Fun Than Housework and decided to shamelessly copy them. I'm calling mine "Scrappy Irish Chain" blocks.

For each block, I simply chose twelve 2-1/2 squares - 4 dark in the center and 8 light for the outer - and the 4-patch corner "chains" are made with 1-1/2 inch pieces. My blocks finish at 8-1/2 inches.

I also made them in green to join with the other green blocks for January. I think I am finally finished with green and orange!

This one is my favorite

I'm joining the fun at Cyndy's Oh Scrap! and to Angela's So Scrappy

Orange Geese Are Migrating

I had thought I was finished with orange scraps for this month's RSC2020, but after I saw Angela's display of orange goodness at So Scrappy, I decided to pull out the orange scrap bin for another go-round. This time I chose another pattern - Geese Migration by Cynthia Brunz of Quilting Is More Fun Than Housework.

This block consists of 15 2-1/2 inch squares and a panel of flying geese. It goes together quickly once the fabrics are chosen. I had forgotten how much I love making flying geese! I would love to have taken one of Cynthia's classes on choosing fabrics for this quilt, but I'm not sure if she is still teaching them. UPDATE: Cynthia says she is teaching an upcoming class at the Roseburg Oregon quilt show in April.

I love the way it looks on this piece of Maple Sugar Grunge by Basic Grey

You can see Cynthia's original Migrating Geese quilt as well as a newer version right here. Go look at her fabulous fabric choices!

Linking to Scrap Happy Saturday at So Scrappy and Cynthia's Oh Scrap!

Going Green With Strings

As I mentioned in my last post, this month's RSC color is light and bright green. When I visited Cynthia's blog the other day to link up with her Oh Scrap!, I saw that she had made green string blocks. In true squirrel fashion, I thought "string blocks!" and got my green scraps back out to play. Notice I said "play". In my last post I mentioned that I don't really enjoy "playing" with scraps. Well that has changed. String blocks are just fun. Another quilt in the works - just what I need (not!).

I saw a string block on Instagram with a wider strip that forms the center, so I experimented with that. I think I like any kind of string block! Both blocks are made with four 6-1/2 inch blocks sewn together for a 12-1/2 inch block.

One of the fun things about using scraps is seeing favorite fabrics I've used. This one is called Doglandia Unleashed, and I used it in my granddaughter's green quilt I made last year. The fabric is peppered with fun dog phrases such as "Fetch" and "get the ball" and "get the stick".

I'm pleased with the reduction in my green scrap bin, although it wasn't very big before.

I'm joining Angela's ScrapHappy Saturday and Cynthia's Oh Scrap! Go have a look at all the scrappy goodness!

A Mug Mat for My DIY Guy

After I made myself a mug rug, I decided to surprise my DIY Guy with one. "Mug Rug" didn't sound quite manly enough, so his is a Mug Mat.

His favorite "OU Sooners" coffee mug is crimson, so shades of red, black, and gray will compliment it!

This time I did regular straight-line quilting instead of quilt-as-you-go. After taking my usual long time choosing fabric, I finished it all up in less than an hour - almost instant gratification!

The back is solid red. Although it appears blue in the photo, the binding is a Kona gray.

I'm linking to Cynthia's Oh Scrap!

Jingle Bell Rock Quilt - Completed!

One year after starting this Jingle Bell Rock quilt, it is finally completed. I thought I was going to finish it for Christmas 2014, but I ended up putting it in the closet for Christmas 2015. I'm only a few days late!

As I posted about it here and here, I just had to make this pattern because of the name. Jingle Bell Rock is the song my husband and I roller-skated to (yes really!) on our first date on December 17, 1962, and it has become our Christmas song. This quilt is in honor of that long-ago night.

The back is an adaptation of Crazy Mom Quilts Mini Trees Quilt with simple strips of color representing a Christmas tree. I drew the design on graph paper, did the math, and somehow got it right - it was fun! Dimensions ended up at 57" x 68".

I completed sandwiching the layers in December last year and started the quilting, but I put it away because I knew I couldn't finish it in time for Christmas. When I got it out recently to finish quilting it, it was a case of "what was I thinking?" I had started diagonal quilting on each block, and now that seems like way too much diagonal. I wish I had quilted each block in opposite diagonals instead, to add more interest.

But I'm pleased with the way the quilting looks on the back, and overall I like the result. This is first Christmas quilt I've made and kept and is the start of a collection I hope to add to every year!

Because of the riot of colors in this pattern, I was able to pull from a variety of stash and scraps and not limited to Christmas fabrics. Binding is from Sweetwater's Elementary collection, blue and white striped inside border is from Nancy Halvorsen's Curiosities, and outside green border with birdies is from Ann Kelle's Jingle collection.

I have a weakness for Christmas fabrics, and I might have asked Santa to bring yardage from Riley Blake's Postcards for Santa collection (love it!) and a few dark green Christmas fabrics.

Linking this week to Oh Scrap! at Quilting Is More Fun Than Housework

Little Joys Quilt Completed

I started this little Christmas quilt as a quilt-along back in July. Yes, life and distractions ensued, but better late than never!

I finished quilting last night, sewed the binding on this morning, and immediately boxed it up and mailed it to my sister-in-law, before I could fall in love with it and keep it like I did this one that was intended for her!

Each of the three designs - Christmas tree, wreath, and gift - was pieced from scraps. I enjoyed quilting a different design on each block. For piecing and quilting, I used Superior Threads So Fine 50 weight Genoa Gray (my favorite thread for everything), and for quilting the sashing I used metallic 40 weight in Raspberry.

The back was pieced with fabric from Basic Grey's Blitzen collection and an pretty white solid.

I had sewn a pieced binding early on, but last night I decided to use a fun print from Riley Blake's Postcards for Santa collection instead. I love the dots!

I'm linking this to Crazy Woman Quilts Finish It Up Friday and on Sunday to Quilting is More Fun Than Housework's Oh Scrap!

Oh Scrap! - Offset Scrappy Log Cabin Blocks

I have an affinity for rainbow quilts, and when I saw a tutorial for a scrappy offset log cabin block on Quilting Is More Fun Than Housework done in rainbow colors, I loved it. I made one block, was hooked, then added three more the following week. Today I added four more colors to the mix.

I haven't yet decided on my design or whether to add another color, but I would like to end up with a nice-sized lap quilt. Cynthia made 36 blocks in 9 colors and added 6 blocks of background colors for a 54" by 63" quilt, shown here. She is a very prolific quilter, and she keeps me inspired!

I am linking to Cynthia's Oh Scrap! linky party

Distractions

Lately I find myself distracted from other ongoing projects, and the culprit is inspiration from other blogs! On Stitch Mischief I found this scrappy variation of Camille Roskelley's Norway pattern and immediately downloaded the pattern to try my own scrappy block. I love everything about Jade's design and will probably shamelessly copy it, but I also want to make the pattern version of it.

Another distraction is buying forbidden fabrics! I did very well the first part of this year with my moratorium on purchasing fabrics, but I have slipped back into fabric addiction. I justified my purchases though. I needed this Hello Bear fat eighth collection to make a quilt for this little guy - my great-great nephew (yes, great-great!).

Love the quirky characters of Hello Bear - it will be perfect for a two-year old boy. I found it at one of my favorite Etsy shops.

I will need more Moda Marbles to make a quilt for my granddaughter, patterned after the pillow I made for her birthday. I had to search a bit to find the quantity I wanted and found it at this online shop.

This fabric, Wishes by Sweetwater, was on sale, and I need more low volume prints, so into the cart it went!

And this print I simply fell in love with - Flight Patterns by Tamara Kate.


I did catch up yesterday on my Farm Girl Vintage blocks, and today I hope to finish up the Little Joys quilt. I hope all of you are having a happy, undistracted week!

I am linking to Cynthia Brunz's Oh Scrap!